The former Southampton captain will form part of Liverpool's squad when they travel to White Hart Lane to face Tottenham on Sunday and, if practice is anything to go by, Rodgers feels he can make an impact.

Lallana is, however, short of match fitness, though the Reds boss believes he can still make a difference.

“He’s come in here as the captain of Southampton. He’s a good character and has outstanding football ability. I think the supporters will see that over this season but we can’t rush him. He has been out a long time.”

Lallana is yet to play for Liverpool in the Premier League this season due to his injury troubles, although fellow summer recruits Lazar Markovic, Dejan Lovren, Javier Manquillo, Alberto Moreno and Emre Can have.

Mario Balotelli, who recently moved to Anfield for £16 million, may also feature against Spurs, although he - unlike Lallana - could be in line to start for Rodgers' side.

Tim Poole

Tim Poole is a sports journalist for HITC with a love of football, tennis and snooker in particular.His career to date has seen him speak to former Manchester United boss David Moyes, interview snooker world champion Mark Selby and be snubbed by Premier League managers and players in more than one language!He is a massive Roger Federer fan and lives by the motto that 'sport is life.' When he's not writing about it, he's playing it, be it football, tennis, basketball, badminton, table tennis, darts, snooker, golf or even water polo. He is better at some than others...